


Socks

by klutzy34



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, References to Depression
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-03
Updated: 2016-12-03
Packaged: 2018-09-06 05:20:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8736394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/klutzy34/pseuds/klutzy34
Summary: Post 6x25. Steve feels the weight of the aftermath of the transplant and Danny offers him a little Grace advice to cope.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This was a little fic I did on Tumblr after the episode, but I wanted to add it to my collection here as well.

“All right, I have to ask.” The first time Steve noticed the hint of colorful socks between Danny’s khakis and his loafers, he’d written it off as a unique event. With the time they gave to the job, finding the time to do laundry was as much a luxury as a necessity. 

It wasn’t a unique event. As their partnership progressed, Steve noticed that each day was a new and decidedly not boring pair of socks, which clashed with the button down, tie and dress pants wearing detective he’d come to know. He couldn’t see how they fell into the area of “professional” Danny clung so hard to in a sun-soaked paradise. 

“What’s with the socks?” Steve pointed at the glimpse of Danny’s green and blue striped ankles as the detective fiddled with the knot of his tie in the mirror on the visor. Danny shot him an annoyed look out of the corner of his eye.

“First my lunch, then my attire. What is it with you needing to know every detail of my life?” he demanded as he sat back in the passenger seat, flipping up the visor. “I have my reasons, reasons that I don’t need to share after last time.”

Steve’s nose wrinkled up, his expression blatant disagreement as he looked away from the road to glance at his partner. “What last time? Has anyone ever told you that you’re a little paranoid?” he asked, rolling his eyes as he focused back on the road.

“‘Book ‘em, Danno,’” Danny stated in a gruff imitation of Steve’s voice. “I am not paranoid, I just believe not everything needs to be shared and in a world where people post what they have for dinner on social media, I feel that’s a commendable attitude,” he added, finishing with a swipe of the hand that then drew through his hair to calm the strands doing their best to escape the gel in the Hawaiian humidity.

Steve scowled in annoyance. “Paranoid,” he muttered quietly, then hit a hard turn so Danny’s attempt to flatten his hair knocked it all askew, earning him a dark look from his side of the car. “Never mind.”

\---------

Danny managed to escape the hospital a few weeks before Steve but he continued to visit every day and stay until the nurses threw him out, well after visiting hours ended. Most nights, he sat silently beside Steve as they watched a game or a movie, glancing over occasionally at the man out of concern. Not even the occasional sarcastic remark seemed to bring him put of the silent funk he’d settled into.

The day of his release, Danny padded into the hospital room to find Steve sitting up, one arm over his stomach, the other planted firmly on the edge of the bed as he stared angrily at his bare feet, socks and boots sitting in Danny’s usual chair. Without a word, Danny tossed the socks back into the bag he’d brought for Steve, set the boots beside Steve’s feet, and sunk into the chair while pulling a pair of socks from his pocket with a casual flourish.

The frustrated look on Steve’s face eased slightly with the introduction of detached curiosity. Blue with black dots, they weren’t the kind of socks a military man like Steve would probably ever think to wear, but as of a visit a few weeks ago, he was no longer military, honorably discharged. 

Danny bent down, careful of his own still healing incision and lifted Steve’s foot into his lap. He caught the initial resistance and the small wince, but he was careful and didn’t let him pull away as he scrunched up the sock and then pulled it over Steve’s toes with the practice of a father used to wrangling difficult little ones and making it seem easy.

“During my divorce, my baby girl, little but very intuitive, told my mother that she thought I seemed very sad. My mother thankfully had the presence of mind not to throw Rachel under the bus with her own daughter and told Grace that I had a very hard job and it made me sad sometimes because I saw a lot of bad things to protect people,” Danny explained quietly as he finished putting the sock on and reached down for the boot.

“So Gracie makes a plan, right? When Father’s Day rolls around, she gets me this pair of outrageous yellow and blue socks and when I open this package, I’m wondering what this ridiculousness is but I thank her for them and tell her I love them, because that’s what a father does. It is the thought that counts.” He gently placed Steve’s foot down and picked up the other, rolling up the sock while he felt Steve’s eyes locked on him, the most interest he’d shown in days.

“I was depressed, really low. Hell, after Matty, with just finding out Charlie was my son, seeing my kid sick, being away so often, I’ve been feeling like that again but...the socks help a little bit. It sounds dumb maybe but when I put those socks on the next time I had Gracie time, even though people couldn’t see it, there was something about having socks that weren’t some monotonous color on. The world sucks, people can be terrible, life hits you the hardest when you don’t expect it, but I’m wearing a little brightness on my feet, you know? Turns out my Gracie is a genius and yeah, it’s not a cure, but it makes me feel better sometimes. A positive aesthetic. I haven’t worn a pair of normal socks since then.”

Danny finished off the boot laces with a double knot and finally looked up at Steve, surprised to find just the smallest hint of moisture around the corner of his eyes. Most might have missed it, but Danny knew Steve in ways most people didn’t. Instead of calling attention to it, he instead motioned to the boot in his lap. “So Grace, Charlie and I went shopping last night and found you these. Charlie insisted that we get one with Spider-Man but Grace and I didn’t really see you as a Spidey kind of guy.” Giving him a small grin, Danny pat the toe of Steve’s boot.

There it was, a hint of a smile. Steve closed his eyes and ducked his head slightly, drawing in a deep breath, but Danny saw it there in the slight upturn of the corners of his mouth. He carefully laid the foot down and rose to his feet, zipping up the bag and throwing the strap over his shoulder. “If you like them and want to expand your collection, let me know. Grace is excited about the idea of taking you shopping. I don’t think Charlie quite understands yet, but any Uncle Steve time is a good time to him.”

He extended his hand to Steve, who gazed at it quietly before taking it and slowly levering himself to his feet. Once he stood fully on his own, he pulled Danny into his arms and hugged him tightly, chin resting on his shoulder. Danny hugged him back as tightly as he dared, closing his eyes. After what seemed like seconds and an hour all the same, Steve pulled back and cleared his throat. 

“I think you’re going to have to tell Grace to set aside a day,” Steve replied softly as they began meandering towards the door, discharge papers tightly held in Danny’s hand while Steve’s arm slung across one of his shoulders, the other still protectively across his middle. “I feel a little better already.”


End file.
